Hair shaper



D. TAYLOR HAIR SHAPER Filed May 17, 1946 Don Taylor ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 21, 1950 UNITED STATES OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to hair shapers this being the term commonly used by barbers and coiffeurs for appliances using razor blades to cut womens hair to a desired form.

Objects of the invention are to provide an improved mounting and guard for the blade of a hair shaper, facilitating use of the shaper, and to provide in an improved manner for retaining a hair shaping blade in its mounting, and easily ejecting such blade when desired.

These and various other objects are attained by the construction hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of my improved hair shaper, showing a blade latched in its mounting.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal elevatio of the appliance in partial section showing the blade unlatched.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the blade partially ejected.

Fig. 4 is a view of that end of the shaper through which the blade is inserted or withdrawn.

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 56 of Fig. 1.

In these views, the reference character l designates an elongated mounting for a thin elongated blade 2 having a razor edge 3. Said mounting is formed with a narrow socket 4 opening in an end face of the mounting and preferably closed in proximity to the opposite end face. From the last-mentioned face, a handle 5 integrally extends in the direction of the length of the mounting, flush with the upper edge of the mounting but materially upwardly offset from the lower edge of the mounting. A guard for the cutting edge 3 is formed by teeth 6 the upper portions of which form the lower portions of the socket 4, such teeth projecting a suitable distance below the edge 3, as for example an eighth of an inch.

For latching the blade in its inserted position, a resilient metal latch strip 1 is slidably set into a groove 8 in the lower edge of the handle, being retained in the groove by a U clip 8a straddling the lower margin of the handle, the forward end of such strip being downwardly bent to engage in a notch 9 formed in the top edge of the blade 2. The forward wall of said notch extends slightly above its rear wall to afford an abutment against which the bent end of the strip 1 may exert forward pressure to eject the blade after release of said end from the notch. The depth of the groove pull the hair.

s is increased as indicated at In adjacent to the mounting l and the resultant cavity is forwardly extended a short distance within the mounting to accommodate the blade-engaging end of the latch strip and to allow a slight sliding travel of such strip for ejecting the blade. Also the cavity it allows a sufficient fiexure of the forward portion of the strip for disengaging the latter from the notch 9. Between its notch 9 and its rear end, the blade has its upper edge beveled to ride under and raise the bent end of the strip l, as the blade is slid into its socket 4. An actuator for the latch strip is formed by a small metal element II welded or brazed to the under face of the strip in a position to abut the mounting when the bent forward end of the strip engages in the notch of the blade. This prevents such forward sliding of the strip in unison with the blade as would allow accidental escape of the blade or at least projection thereof from its socket. Said actuator is disposed below the cavity Iii, so that a slight upward pressure o such actuator will flex the forward portion of the strip upwardly to release it from the notch 9 as shown in Fig. 2. When the strip is thus flexed, it still engages the edge forming the front wall of the notch, and may be slid forwardly by means of the actuator to partially eject the blade so that the latter is easily accessible for complete withdrawal,

The described hair shaper has the advantage of avoiding such projections, as might catch and While the actuator II forms a slight projection, its shape is not such as to catch in the hair and furthermore such projection is covered by the hand grasping the handle 5. Location of the actuator on the handle permits of its easy control by a hand gripping the handle. The provision of positive means for forcing the blade at least partially out of its socket is highly desirable as it preferably has a rather close sliding fit and may occasionally offer some resistance to withdrawal, particularly if any particles of dandruff or the like find access to the socket.

It is preferred to form the mounting and its handle of such plastic materials as are commonly used for combs, and such materials may if desired be translucent.

What I claim is:

1. A cutting implement comprising a blade having a sharp edge, an elongated mounting having a socket opening in an end thereof to slidingly receive the blade, the mounting having teeth extending across said edge to expose and guard such edge and the blade having a notch other end thereof, such mounting having teeth 10 extending across said edge to guard and partially expose such edge, a handle extending from the closed end of the mounting, and a combined ejector and latch for the blade slidable on the handle,

and formed with a stop engageable with the 15 1,217,570

mounting and thereby limiting travel of said ejector and latch in the direction of blade ejection.

3. A cutting implement as set forth in claim 2, said blade having a notch at its initially entering end for latch purposes, and such notch having one of its opposed edges projecting beyond the other to receive ejector thrust after latch release.

DON TAYLOR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 292,917 Kaldenbach Feb. 5, 1884 968,428 Smith Aug. 23, 1910 Cox Feb. 27, 1917 1,693,973 Alland Dec. 4, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 168,449 Great Britain Sept. 8, 1921 

